Stacy Dragila (USA) (© Kirby Lee)
USA’s World indoor and outdoor Pole Vault record holder, Stacy Dragila chose the IAAF for an exclusive pre-World Indoors interview.
You have broken the World Record just a couple of weeks ago. What is your physical and mental state entering these championships?
I think the major thing is that I feel very confident now. I had had a few good shots at the World record at the Millrose Games and in Boston but it didn’t happen. The training was exceptional and I knew I had the height somewhere in me. I am just glad it happened at the nationals in front of such a big crowd.
When Svetlana (Feofanova) had such a great year last year I felt just ‘Wow’, she was awesome. But at the same time it gave me extra motivation. And for me to have improved on her record now it just proves that I am still up there, I can still do it.
I have been doing great things in training and have even raised the bar to 16 feet (4.88). I haven’t yet cleared it but I am very close! I think that being in a competition situation will be just the little extra I need to go over it.
Do you think the competition will be a two-woman battle like it was in Edmonton, or do you see other girls other then Svetlana who might be able threaten your World Championships quest?
To tell you the truth, I was very excited when I read about Isinbayeva attempting the World record height last week. I was glad that it isn’t just me and Svetlana out there. I like it more when there are many of us going high. It makes the event even more exciting for the crowd. Everyone has been looking out for Svetlana and myself but really there is much more to the women’s Pole Vault than just us.
I think Sunday it’s going to take a higher mark than 4.70 to win it. And hopefully, if all goes to plan, there will be a World record in Birmingham. Speaking for myself I am fit to take all the jumps that it’s going to take. I am happy that I have been having clean competitions, making very little, if any mistakes at lower heights and being able to save my energy for when it matters.
Have you planned a specific tactic for these championships? Or are you just going to control the contest as the bar is raised? What will be your starting height?
No, I don’t plan this sort of things. Maybe after the preliminaries and when we know which are going to be the heights I will think about it. I think I am going to open with a 4.30. I have been opening around 4.30 lately and it has worked well. I am very confident though and if I need to open a bit higher that will not be a problem at all.
There is no denying that Svetlana Feofanova is going to be your tougher competitor this weekend. Is there a vaulting quality that she has and you lack?
For having carefully watched Svetlana’s jump I think she is much more accurate than me on taking her steps for her take off. I tend to get a little bit too excited and get too much under it resulting in a non ideal take off. Svetlana does an excellent job in that phase of the jump.
As for me I think my best quality is my ability at getting inverted. I think that is what I do better than anybody else in the world including the men. I have been working on being more precise with my approach without losing my qualities because most of the times when you try and improve on something you lose on something else.
I am not a perfect technician and I don’t think any athlete can claim being perfect. That would be the end of it. Striving for perfection, that is why we are always so motivated. But when you do get the big jump it is an amazing feeling. Everything around you just slows down. There is an immense silence and you don’t hear anything up there. I have had one of those at the World Indoors in 1997 and at the World outdoors in 1999 and it is just an incredible feeling. It takes a lot of patience and repetition to get there but once you experience that particular moment then you understand why you have put so much effort in it.
I love the sport and I think I still have a lot to give to the sport.
How important is the World Indoor title for you? Do you think you need it to prove that Stacy Dragila is back to what Stacy Dragila used to be in 2001?
This one would be more for myself. I have always strived at being the best and by the way it’s been quite a long time that I haven’t had a world indoor title, since 1997!
It is true that I have had a lot of critics last year, I knew I wasn’t performing at the level I had been in previous years because of my injury but still people didn’t accept it. I think it was ignorant on them and I was very frustrated by that attitude.
Now my confidence is built up. I know I have an excellent training base and I am ready for it.
What is the last thing you do before taking a jump?
I just take a deep breath, I look at the bar, I tell myself that the bar is very low, that I can clear it, that I have done it a lot of times before. I basically talk to myself and motivate myself.
Another thing I like to do is encourage the crowd to support us. The Pole Vault is such an intimate competition, we are out there for so long and we want to give back to the crowd as much as they give to us.
And I hope there will be a lot of them cheering up for us on Sunday!
IAAF
